


All This Time

by Zimithrus1



Series: Always and Forever [6]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Clack, Kissing, M/M, Romance, Some Humor, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tumblr Prompt, light and fluffy, not much else to say here, otp prompt, some language, zakkura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 20:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13597536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zimithrus1/pseuds/Zimithrus1
Summary: When a person meets their soulmate, their eyes will change color to match that of their partner's. Unfortunately for Cloud Strife, he has yet to meet anybody who's eyes have changed... Or so he thought. Maybe his soulmate was right in front of him in the form of his childhood best friend, Zack Fair.Inspired by an OTP prompt on Tumblr.Also written for secluded-delusions!





	All This Time

**Author's Note:**

> A cute little soulmate prompt I found here:  
> http://otpprompts.tumblr.com/post/170455399284/imagine-your-otp-in-a-soulmate-au-where-the-signs  
> My friend secluded-delusions pointed out how awesome this would be as a clack fic and I just couldn't resist!
> 
> So I hope you all enjoy it too!

**All This Time**

* * *

 

It was quiet this morning: The birds were silent, the leaves remained still in their trees, and even the wind was nowhere to be heard or found. It was just the type of morning that Cloud enjoyed the best.

He was currently sitting on the couch in the living room with a hot cup of tea in his loose-fitting pajamas, watching some kind of talk-show about random events. This one just happened to be about Sephiroth the pop star and his new album debut. The hostesses of the show were fangirling over how attractive he was and made some rather inappropriate comments not suited for live television.

He honestly wasn’t sure why he was watching this drivel, but he wasn’t going to lie, he was rather entertained by it. Not to mention the fact that he had to spit out his tea just from laughing when one of the hostesses said a cuss word on live television, then asked if it was too late to bleep it out. Needless to say they ended up cutting to commercial break earlier than expected.

He took another long sip from his cup, the warmth of the liquid gently caressing his face as he drank. His murky green reflection stared back at him, displaying his messy hair sitting atop his head in a funky way due to sleeping on it all night. The color of the liquid diluted the color of his eyes, which he knew were a stunning cerulean blue, but looked more like seaweed green because of the tea. He frowned at his reflection and pulled one of his hands away from his warm mug, using his fingers to comb at long strands of his ever growing sunshine blond hair.

Cloud thought about getting it cut soon, but he hadn’t really had this kind of length on him since he was fourteen. It was long enough to at least pull back into a small ponytail, yet short enough that his haphazard spikes still defied gravity in uniformed disarray. Plus, he knew if he cut it off, he’d earn himself a miffed reaction from his best friend, whom always stated he should grow it out because it quote-on-quote, ‘looked really cool’.

His reflection showed him to be smirking –and maybe even blushing a little bit at the thought and he quickly pulled his face away from the murky green liquid and back to the television absently. If it wasn’t for his friend, he may not be the same person he was today; after all, he was heavily influenced when he was young.

He didn’t always live in Gongaga –which that was probably obvious considering how he was the only blond-haired person here, aside from his dearly departed mother. He and his aforementioned mother moved here many years ago when Cloud himself had to have only been five. When his father had died, they went through rough times: There was a drought and the crops weren’t growing. There was no work to be found in Nibelheim and the bills kept stacking up.

But luckily enough for them, they had family staying in Gongaga at the time. If Cloud recalled right, he remembered them to be his aunt and uncle. They were going to be moving to Midgar and since they knew struggling mother and young child needed a place to stay, they gave them their home near the edge of the quiet tropical village.

Getting there was tough to say the least. It took days to get across the river, cut through Cosmo Canyons, and trek around the forest before they finally arrived at the quiet little village. There was a huge stir when they arrived, he recalled, the whole village was outside in the square when they heard the news. Cloud was rather quiet and reserved at the time and made it his personal mission to never leave his spot from behind his mother.

But that’s when he met Zack –scratch that, that’s when Zack came running up with a huge smile on his face; raven-black hair wildly disheveled and stunning cerulean blue eyes burning with energy. He had said hello to his mother, then asked her if it was true she had a child around his age. Cloud recalled feeling betrayed when his mother ushered him away from her to make friends with this new child.

But Zack just gave him a huge grin and stuck his hand out for him to shake. He recalled him stating his name and that they were going to be super good friends. He remembered not saying anything back at first, so Zack took the initiative and gently grabbed his own hand and made them shake. He then remembered the other boy’s parents scolding him for freaking the new boy out.

At first, Cloud made sure he’d never leave their new home again, lest he run into that high-spirited boy. He’d always seem him playing by himself in the town square every day. But one day his mother forced him to go outside and ‘make friends with that nice boy’.

He recalled protesting and whining about how overly excitable he was and how it made him uncomfortable, but his mother pointed out that they were the only two children in the village right now and if he didn’t make friends now, he’d never have any. So, he was nudged out the front door. It was shortly after that when Zack found him and insist that they play together, but when he realized he was making him uncomfortable, he toned down on the enthusiasm.

He recalled Zack saying that he didn’t know anyone could have blond hair and blue eyes before and he thought it was really cool; which in turn had Cloud stating that he didn’t know someone with tan skin and black hair could have blue eyes. Of course Zack was surprised at that as if he didn’t know his eyes were blue, but was quick to drop it before asking if he wanted to play a game with him.

After that day they became friends and were pretty much inseparable ever since. To this day, Cloud was thankful his mother made him go out that morning. Now Zack was an integral part of his life and he wouldn’t be who he was now without his pep and enthusiasm. Even though they were adults now, they still hung out very often and were almost always seen together; except for those few times when Cloud wanted to have a day to himself and lounge about the house.

Nowadays, those were few and far between. It seemed as though his best friend constantly wanted to be around him, which surprisingly enough, Cloud never minded. In fact, his house just seemed more lonely without his mother and these days he couldn’t stand being alone for a long time. But usually Zack would pop up and invite him to go out and practice hunting in the jungle, invite him over to hang out in his own home, or even just take a walk around the village and talk.

Village life was a little monotonous, but at least with his best friend around, life wasn’t. He felt a blush pool across his cheeks and he quickly used a free hand to smack it out of him. His feelings had gotten rather confusing as of late. He always found himself smiling or blushing when he thought of his best friend. But he always was quick to shake his head and throw away those silly thoughts, after all, they weren’t soulmates.

When one came across their soulmate, their eyes would change to match the color of the one who’s soul matched with theirs. But ever since Cloud knew him, Zack’s eyes had always been blue. It was just odd genetics after all; His mother had green eyes and his father had brown, so there was a percentage that he’d end up with blue eyes, as low as that may be.

But he had yet to meet his aforementioned soulmate. It probably didn’t help that he had spent a good portion of his life in this village. He’d never know them if he didn’t leave, but at the same time, he didn’t want to leave his best friend behind. He had known Zack for too long and life would just be dull and bland without his vivacity.

So Cloud was a bit at war with himself; he felt weird around his best friend, he wanted to find his soulmate eventually, but he didn’t want to leave and also he was comfortable with the life he had right now. He wanted to break away, but he also wanted to stay; he wanted to be around his best friend, but he couldn’t shake those weird feelings off him.

He was glad when the talk-show came back from commercial break, it allowed him to stop thinking –or overthinking things. He just brought his tea back to his face and watched the mindless drivel the hostesses had to offer. But in the back of his mind, his thoughts still were preoccupied with his best friend. He didn’t even know he was blushing again until he felt the heat flourish across his face.

With a grunt, Cloud decided to place his warm tea to the side and melt into the couch cushions, as if he could hide from the embarrassment of his own accursed emotions if he sank back enough. He focused back into the talk-show, where the topic had changed to one of them wishing they could be Sephiroth’s soulmate, but rumor was he was already paired with someone.

_‘I wish I could be Zack’s soulmate.’_

Cloud groaned and hid his red face behind his hands. Now he couldn’t get his best friend out of his head no matter how hard he tried. But soon there were a couple of loud, yet restrained knocks resonating against his front door. The twenty-year-old blond pulled his hands from his face and glanced over to the door. His cerulean eyes then met with the sight of a clock hanging near the kitchen archway. Who on Gaia could be knocking on his door at six-thirty in the morning?

It couldn’t be Zack, he slept till ten on Sundays. He didn’t recall ordering anything either, so it couldn’t be the mailman –mailmen don’t deliver on Sundays, that’s right. Cloud stood up from the couch, taking a small amount of time to fix his oversized white shirt that had creased around his middle. He shuffled to the front door when he heard more knocking, the sounds less loud and a bit more timid. He shivered when his bare feet scuffled across the cool tile by his front door; why couldn’t his whole house have carpeting?

The doorknob was cold, but he gripped it tightly and opened the door anyways. The sunlight wasn’t that bright yet considering how it hadn’t even broke the horizon yet, but he still winced when he looked outside –it was a little brighter out here than in his house. When his eyes adjusted to the lightening blue and indigo sky, he was met face to face with a calm and rather serious looking Zack. Needless to say, the blond was a bit confused.

“Zack? What are you doing here so early in the morning?” Cloud asked as he opened the door a little wider.

“Hey, Cloud. Could I come in for a sec?” The twenty-one year-old man asked.

“Yeah, sure,” The blond responded as he stepped aside, “If you’re here this early it’s gotta be important.” He added.

“Thanks, Spike.” Zack acknowledged as he stepped inside.

Cloud shut the front door behind him and allowed the house time to warm up again, it _was_ rather cold this morning. The television was still on and the hostesses were still talking about soulmates and how there was one out there for everyone. The older man continued to stand by the door, looking almost nervous in a sense.

“Is something the matter, Zack?” Cloud asked curiously. It wasn’t like his friend to be so out of character, even if it _was_ early in the morning.

“Well it’s…a little hard to say, umm…” Zack drawled, his eyes looking everywhere but at Cloud.

“Oh no…Did Scrappy die?” Cloud asked, “I mean I know he was getting old for a dog, but still…”

“What? No, no, Scrappy’s fine!” Zack dismissed with a wave of his hands, “The old fart’s still kickin’. But, that’s not why I’m here.”

Cloud gave his friend another confused look. If it wasn’t because of his old German Shepard, then why was he here so early in the morning? Not to mention, why would he be acting so serious? He didn’t have a lot of these moments unless it was something sad or bad. He was even dressed kind of nice: white shirt, gray button up tossed over it with none of the buttons even clasped, and even some nice black pants.

“Could you get dressed?” Zack asked.

“What for? Why do I need to get dressed? Unless…Is there someone watching us? A Wutaian spy, or maybe a Junon mafia member out to collect what he’s due?” Cloud theorized as he glanced all around his house, “Maybe they have the whole place tapped. Maybe they’re listening in on us right now!”

“Cloud…” Zack laughed softly.

“ _Du kommer aldrig att ta mig till liv!_ You hear that you spies?” Cloud continued, shouting in his native Nibelheim tongue.

But there were hands on his shoulders and he stopped his playful banter when he realized Zack was smiling, but still had a calm and thoughtful look on his face.

“I appreciate the witty banter, although I have no idea what you said in that last bit. But in all seriousness, you should get dressed, there’s somewhere I want to take you.” Zack explained.

“…Well if that’s all you wanted to do then you should have said something, you goof!” Cloud laughed, clearing his throat afterwards and hoping to Minerva above that his friend didn’t see the blush starting to form on his face.

Once Zack let go of his shoulders, he was quick to spin on his heel and make his way to his bedroom to change. When he knew he wasn’t in his friend’s line of sight, he slapped the accursed heat away from his face with a snort. He really needed to keep that under control. Thankfully he could still hear the talk-show from the living room and it helped distract him.

He walked over to his closet and slid open the wooden doors, pausing to scratch an itch on his leg. He didn’t have a lot of clothes, just the necessities and a few amenities. Cloud shrugged before he pulled down an outfit and some pants and tossed them to his bed. He wiggled out of the clothes he slept in and shivered when he realized how warm they were and how cold his home actually was.

He made quick work in putting the new clothes on so he’d be warm again. He just picked something simple; a V-neck three-fourth sleeved shirt in a nice teal color, finished with black pants, black boots, and a blue chocobo printed wrist warmer on his right arm for a bit of class. He also put his growing blond hair up into a low ponytail like he used to do as a teenager. It almost made him feel that young again.

When he felt pleased with this appearance, he stepped back out of his bedroom and entered the living room again. Zack was glancing over at the television with a confused look on his face, and he could see him mouth the words ‘what kind of gameshow is this?’ even without hearing him. Before his presence was spotted, Cloud took a moment to see what was on the TV as well.

Apparently the talk-show had ended and now a gameshow came on where one of the contestants acted as a human crane and the other three teammates steered the direction of the human claw, while said claw was picking up pink toy panda bears and throwing them into a chute in order to score points. But there was fog that dispersed when they got close to the chute, which made seeing hard. Based on the subtitles and the language the host was speaking, it was obviously a Wutaian gameshow.

Only when it cut to commercial did Zack finally break his stare with the television to glance ahead of him. If Cloud didn’t know any better, then he’d think that there was a blush forming on his best friend’s face at the sight of him.

“You uh, clean up well, Spike.” Zack laughed nervously, making a joke to hide the fact that he was now indeed blushing.

“What do you mean I ‘clean up well’? You make it sound like I’m an old homeless man.” Cloud pointed out as he came up and stood right in front of the taller man.

“S-See! I told you that you look good with your hair like that! And to think you wanted to cut it!” Zack redirected, trying to avoid his earlier comment.

“Don’t you try and act like you didn’t-”

“So! Shall we go?”

Zack booked it to the front door and was quick to open it up and hold it like so. Cloud just gave him a playful glare as he walked past him and out into the open morning air. His friend shut the door behind him before walking up next to him. The sky was starting to lighten some more even though the sleepy sun had yet to wake up. There was a lighter blue forming at the horizon that intermingled with the indigo and dark navy higher above. It wouldn’t be too much longer until the sky was alight in a golden yellow blaze.

“Follow me, so you don’t get lost.” Zack directed as he started to lead the way.

“Hey! I’ve lived here for a long time, I’m not going to get lost!” Cloud complained as he quickly strode next to his older friend.

“The last time we went where we’re going now you did.”

“Well, why don’t you tell me where we’re going, so I can prove in your _face_ that I won’t get lost!”

“Well where’s the fun in that? I want it to be a surprise!”

“Zack, I’ve explored every nook and cranny of this entire village with you since I was six, there are no surprises here!”

“So _you_ think.”

“So I _know!_ ”

“Alright blondie, pipe down.”

Cloud just settled the playful spat by sticking his tongue out at Zack before continuing to walk with him at an even pace. From where Cloud’s house was, they had started to travel in an eastern direction. They ended up in the tropical jungle shortly after where they then started to weave around trees, step over fallen branches, and dash through some weak looking vines. Shortly after that there was a small dirt path that lay ahead of them that they began to follow.

It had a lovely atmosphere so early in the morning; the trees on either side of them, the crickets still chirping, fireflies still blinking all around them. The wind tickled the trees and made their leaves shiver, it played with their hair and tugged at their clothes. The sky was still a mix of bright and dark, but when Cloud looked straight up through the jungle canopy, it was like night was still staring back at him.

Maybe there were still surprises in this sleepy village. He was perfectly content looking all around him as they both continued on the trail, soaking in all the sights and sounds like a new sponge. Cloud felt warmth on the top of his left hand, gliding across like the playful wind, but he was surprised once more when he felt that warmth curl around his hand and grasp it. Without even looking, he knew it was Zack who had grabbed onto his left hand.

A feverish red blush bloomed across Cloud’s face and splotched down his neck too when he felt his hand being squeezed lightly. He didn’t pull away from it either, he let it happen. Before his brain registered anything, his hand had curled around Zack’s and completed the action full-circle; fingers locked together loosely. The blond swallowed a lump in his throat and kept his eyes glued to the trees on his right.

Why was he not pulling away? Why was he not questioning Zack’s behavior? He had never pulled this kind of stuff before; acting as if they were something special, like an item or even soulmates. But that thought wanted to make Cloud laugh; they weren’t soulmates. They were just childhood friends that grew up, laughed, and cried together, that’s all. So if that was really the case, then why did this warm action keep persisting?

Again, why wasn’t he pulling away? His thoughts came rounding back on themselves, going from point A to B, then doing it again. They weren’t soulmates, they were friends. But then again, did best friends do this kind of stuff with one another? He didn’t have any other friends he could ask. Zack was his one and only friend, which only made this situation so much more confusing.

Cloud felt his hand being squeezed again and it made chills sweep down his body from his head to his feet like a free-falling amusement park ride. His stomach even did the flips as if he was just on some thrill ride. Why couldn’t he just get a grip?

“Hey, we’re here!” Zack chirped.

Cloud was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t even realize they had stopped walking. When he glanced ahead of him, he was gazing at a breathtaking view. They were standing on the clearing in the jungle, way up on a cliff-side that overlooked the far reaches of the land and even the ocean in the distance. The first traces of sunlight had broken across those distant waves and made them sparkle like endless diamonds. The wind blew through the grass around them and in the distance of the plains stretching out before them as well. It was like the world was theirs for the taking, and all they had to do was reach out and grab it.

“So…You surprised yet?” Zack smirked as he gently squeezed his friend’s hand again.

“…Color me impressed.” Cloud responded as his blue eyes brightly reflected the rising golden sun.

“Do you remember the first time we came here?” Zack inquired as he finally let the blond’s hand go.

Now he felt cold.

“Yeah, I remember…I was scared out of my mind.” Cloud responded.

He did remember when he and Zack came across this very ledge so long ago. He was probably seven, maybe eight, when they did. Zack said he found this place by accident one day when he got lost, but when he found out where he was, he just had to bring him here. Cloud recalled being amazed at the view, stating how the world just seemed to stretch for forever. He remember Zack making a comment of how he was going to fly all around the world and make friends with everybody, then he was going to swim to where they lived.

Cloud remembered himself saying that Zack couldn’t swim across entire oceans. But his young friend told him he was going to learn how to when he got older. He recalled getting curious at how far away the ocean actually was. He had stepped close to the edge of the cliff and reached out to see if he could grab the distant waves. But he lost his footing and fell. He remembered Zack screaming and he definitely remembered tumbling down that rocky cliff.

He was lucky he stopped rolling on a thick ledge a little below the drop-off. He remembered how much his cuts were stinging and how his head was hurting. He remembered crying his eyes out when he saw blood and how high up he actually was. Cloud recalled trying to climb his way back up the cliff, but it was too steep and jagged to climb, especially with how much his head was hurting. He remembered Zack trying to reach down and grab him, but not even coming close to reaching him.

He remembered how scared and alone he felt when Zack ran off to go get help. He grabbed that cliff for dear life and refused to move a single inch, crying and whining and complaining that his head hurt. It felt like he had been stuck there for hours, which looking back on it now was probably more like thirty minutes. He remembered when Zack came back with his own father, who had rallied up his worried mother, who then rallied up two other villagers whose names that Cloud couldn’t really recall.

They tossed him a knotted rope and told him to grab on, which he did. He remembered how they pulled him back up to solid ground and how his mother hugged him very tightly. After that they weren’t allowed to play here and had to stick with playing in the village square for about three months.

“I was scared too.” Zack spoke with a fond sounding laugh. When Cloud looked at him, he continued, “I was thinking ‘Oh crap, I’ve killed my best friend! What have I done?’ but then I ran off and got help.”

“Technically speaking I wasn’t even dead.” Cloud responded with a laugh of his own.

“Yeah, I know. But hey, I was like nine, what do you expect?”

“True, your imagination always did get the better of you.”

“It still does sometimes…”

A quiet silence fell over the two as they went back to gazing at the sun rising over the sparkling ocean. The wind gently blew around them, providing a faint noise even in the stillness. If Cloud thought about it hard enough, it was almost like he could smell the salty ocean breeze even from all the way up here. It was nice, peaceful even. It was a moment he wished that would never end.

He was here with his best friend talking about the old days and even enjoying the sunrise. He wasn’t worried about soulmates or weird feelings, it was just calm and easygoing.

“So…I didn’t just bring you here to watch the sunrise.” Zack spoke after the pause of silence seemed long enough.

“I figured you had an ulterior motive.” Cloud mused, “So what _did_ you bring me out here for?”

“Well the other day, I noticed something when my mom came over. She brought a photo album she made for me and she was showing me some old pictures…” Zack started to say, trailing off for a moment as he dug into his back pocket to pull something out.

He held the objects in his hands, and in them, there were about three or four old looking photographs. They were held out in front of Cloud, so he assumed he was supposed to take them, so he did. He looked at the photos one by one; the first one being one of Zack himself as a chunky infant with a toy giraffe in his hands, the second was one when he was a toddler and he was pulling at his dad’s mustache, the third was one where he was holding a birthday cake and smiling brightly, and the last one was of Cloud and himself playing together in Zack’s backyard.

“Do you notice anything odd in them?” Zack hinted as he watched the blond sort through the photos.

“You’re sitting or standing still in all of these? You’re right, that _is_ odd!” Cloud sarcastically remarked.

The raven-haired man rolled his eyes, “Look again then, Sargent Sarcasm.”

So Cloud looked through the pictures again. He didn’t know what ‘odd’ thing he was supposed to be looking for, so he just scrunched his face up in thought as he looked through all of them again, and then again. He looked back at Zack and gave him a ‘are you fucking with me’ look.

“Just keep looking. You’ll see it.”

Cloud rolled his eyes and looked through them again. The only odd thing he found was what he stated earlier; it took serious willpower for Zack himself to sit or stand still, so the fact that there were even photographs of it was like the eighth wonder of the world. But as he was doing another look through and getting nowhere,

“I wasn’t born with blue eyes, Cloud.” Zack spoke.

Cloud paused in his picture flipping for a moment with an absent look on his face, then he was quick to really look at those pictures and see if what his best friend said was true. It was. In the first three photos, Zack clearly had violet eyes, but in the last picture when he was in it too, his friend’s eyes were the same shade of blue as his own. He almost didn’t believe it, so he combed through the photos one more time.

But the proof was resolute and unchanging: Zack had violet eyes before he met Cloud. The photos were gently taken from his hands even though he didn’t realize they had been. He didn’t break out of that blank stare until he felt that hand grasp his own again. He shook his head to clear out the daze before he glanced over to his left to see his best friend giving out the most brightest and infectious smile he had ever seen.

“You know what that means, right?” Zack asked.

But it was a rhetorical question: They were soulmates. They had been soulmates this whole time and never even realized it. After all, they were still pretty young when they met; Cloud couldn’t remember much from before the age of five or six, and if it was that way with Zack, then he wouldn’t remember ever having violet eyes, he would only remember having blue eyes instead.

Cloud felt this chest tighten and it felt a little less easier to breathe. His hand gripped his best friend’s –scratch that, his soulmate’s hand even tighter. He didn’t realize he was about to cry until his vision became blurry and his eyes felt moist. It was only when those tears actually fell did he allow himself a few relieved sounding sobs.

“Cloud, hey, are you alright?”

The blond’s face was gently cupped and pivoted to the left, where he was now face to face with a worried looking Zack. But instead of verbally answering, he just reached up and kissed the older man on the lips. There was a small noise of surprise, but it was quick to fade away and the tender action was returned. His other hand broke away and fully cupped that angelic face in his hands as he pressed into the sweet touch deeper. A few tears made the sweet action a little salty and it was then that the two broke away for a moment.

“I’m gonna assume those are happy tears then?” Zack smirked as those hands gently caressed the blond’s face.

Cloud just nodded without words, only the sound of a happy sob escaping him. He just couldn’t believe it: His awkward feelings didn’t have to be awkward anymore, he didn’t have to leave the village to find his soulmate, and he still got to stay here with his best friend. It was still them against the world with a stronger connection now. He went back in for another kiss, as if the first one was just a dream or he was hallucinating.

But Cloud was pulled in close, one of Zack’s hands cupping the back of his head while the other wrapped around the small of his back. Their eyes were closed and the fire ignited across their flesh and deep in their gut. Just that simple action was worth more than a thousand words and the blond kept wanting more. Now that he could finally have what he thought he never could, he wanted as much as he could get.

So they continued to kiss while the rising sun washed them in golden yellow light.

* * *

 

A metallic clang echoed throughout the house, vibrating and drumming loudly against the kitchen tile. It was enough to ruse Cloud from sleep and he sat up with half-lidded eyes. He glanced around the room as if trying to locate the source of the sound. It didn’t come from Scrappy, he was still asleep in his bed near the closet. Cue another metallic sounding clang against tile and a sharp _‘Shit!’_ hissing after the loud sound.

Cloud just smirked as he continued to sit upright in bed. He glanced over to a clock on the end table beside him. The time displayed was five fifty-eight in the morning. It was still very much unlike Zack to be up before six, even now that they were living together in the older man’s house.

The door to the bedroom they shared slowly cracked open and low and behold there was Zack peeking in quietly. Cloud smirked when he saw the apologetic and slightly wounded look on his soulmate’s face before he slowly entered the bedroom.

“I woke you up, didn’t I?” Zack asked as he closed the distance between them, sitting next to the blond on the bed when he got there.

“What’s it look like?” Cloud responded, his tone and eyes still half-asleep.

A kiss of apology was placed on his lips and he smirked into the action, deepening for a moment before the older man could pull away, “So,” A pause to kiss again, “what _are_ you doing?” Cloud asked with another kiss.

Zack pulled away enough to where he’d be able to finish a complete sentence, “Well, I was trying to quietly make breakfast, but I’m dropping almost everything I pick up.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Cloud rhetorically questioned as he leaned his head against the raven-haired man’s shoulder.

“Because you’ve lived here long enough to know every surprise this place has to offer?” Zack supplied with a gentle hum.

“Good point. So, what were you trying to make?”

“Some bacon, maybe some eggs.”

“Alright.” Cloud said as he pulled his head away from his soulmate’s shoulder, “I’m going to go back to sleep, you have fun playing percussion in the kitchen.”

“I’ll try the bongos instead, they’re much more quiet.” Zack joked before he stood up from the bed.

Cloud hummed a noise of agreement as he buried his face back into the pillow he was once laying on. He felt Zack gently kiss his temple before he peeled away to continue cooking. He shut the door softly behind him and headed back into the kitchen. The blond readjusted the blankets around his body until he was in a comfortable cocoon again.

The silence didn’t last long because just mere minutes later, there was another loud clatter followed by Zack hissing out whispered cusses again. He smirked to himself before he decided to get out of bed and help the older man make breakfast. Scrappy decided to come along too with a loud bark. Cloud was truly happy; he had everything he wanted or needed right here.

It was loud this morning; Zack was cursing, pans and pots were banging, and Scrappy was barking. It was just the type of morning that Cloud enjoyed the best.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for giving this a read and I hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought of it, okay? :)  
> (For the curious, the language I had Cloud speak in that one part was Swedish)


End file.
